In this article, we examine the role that different participant structures can play in supporting inquiry-based science learning. We frame mastering scientific inquiry as mastering the "what," "why," and "how" of the cultural tools that scientists employ. We present a participant structure we call the teacher as partner and show how it renders the what, why, and how visible while establishing symmetry between teachers and students. We draw on Wertsch's (1998) distinction between mastery, gaining proficiency with a cultural tool, and appropriation, making a tool one's own, to show that the partner participant structure contributes to both. Thus, we propose that the teacher as partner serve as a generative metaphor for inquiry teaching in responding to current calls to consider identity formation as well as subject-matter learning in formal schooling. We hope that it invites research on instructional moves that can demystify the process of science and help students identify themselves as ratified participants who can contend with scientific issues as citizens.A: Cracking open and eating Tribulus [Reads from descriptive notes on a computer screen] B: By the time he got there they had already finished eating, so he was either too slow or A: Ooo or his beak wasn't strong enough

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Working in small groups with computer-based learning environments provides an opportunity for students to investigate and discuss their own explanations of natural phenomena. Incorporating domain-specific strategic support in the design of these environments can make student investigations and discussions more productive by focusing them on key variables and relationships in the domain. However, interacting with these environments may not be enough to help students develop understandings and ways of communicating that are consistent with scientific views. A support system that combines interactions with these environments with teacher-student discussions in both small-group and whole-class formats provides more comprehensive support.We describe a computer-based investigation environment that incorporates domain-specific strategic support, where students investigate an episode of natural selection in the wild. The environment was used as part of a unit on evolution at a Chicago public high school. We illustrate the complementary roles of this environment and studentteacher discussions in both small-group and wholeclass formats in supporting science learning.